Based on mutual trust, at Our Little Vaishnavs we want to ensure that every member of the community feels valued and respected. In order for children to achieve their best, it is  vital that they understand how to behave, play and study together in a considerate manner. To    achieve this, we believe that it is important that children, staff and parents value good behaviour. Therefore, in addition to the academic curriculum, we are also concerned with instilling the importance of right, wrong, fairness and tolerance. Children learn best when they are in a safe and supportive community, when they are clear about what they are supposed to do and when they are continually and consistently encouraged to do it.

The school adopts a zero-tolerance approach to any bullying issues, all staff must challenge any abusive behaviour between peers that comes to their notice and will report these to the school head immediately.

• To provide a happy, stimulating learning environment that caters for the needs of individual children.

• To instill in children a high level of self-esteem and confidence in their own worth.

• To encourage pupils to apply themselves diligently to tasks and develop positive attitudes both in their work and in their personal relationships.

• To help pupils acquire skills and knowledge relevant to life.

• To develop a sensitivity to the needs of others and instil respect for religious, moral and cultural values, tolerance of other races, religions and ways of life.

• To develop co-operation in all aspects of school life.

• To discourage aggression in all its forms.

• To ensure the safety of all members of our school.

• To encourage children to take responsibility for their own actions and realise that actions have consequences.

• To develop respect for their own and other peoples' property.

• To understand the need for and develop acceptable behaviour in a variety of situations.

• To make our school a happy, safe and caring place to be.

Children

• Learn what good behaviour is.

• Learn to care for one another.

• Learn to value friendship.

• Develop self-confidence.

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Staff

• Teach effectively with few behaviour problems.

• Are caring, consistent and fair.

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Parents

• Feel confident that their children are developing not only academically, but also personally and socially.

• Know that their children will receive support when they need it.

• Are able to discuss issues openly in a positive atmosphere.

Good behaviour means that everyone in school is:

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• careful and kind

• polite and friendly

• helpful and thoughtful to one another

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We encourage children:

• To care for themselves, to be responsible for their own personal safety, to develop  self-esteem, to take pride in their own achievements.

• To value others, their similarities and differences, to empathise with and respect their feelings, to care for and co-operate with others and to enjoy and respect their achievements.

• To develop a feeling of corporate responsibility by learning to care for their school environment and develop an understanding of and concern for the wider environment and the world.

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This behaviour is encouraged in every area of school activity and children are helped to recognise examples of good behaviour at all times.

• At the start of each year, the school rules  are discussed and then     the teachers may create class rules to reflect these. The school rules must be displayed in the classroom. It is also important to discuss rewards and sanctions to celebrate and reinforce positive behaviour and deter unacceptable behaviour.

• Recognise, highlight and praise good behaviour as it occurs.

• Praise children for behaving well.

• Ensure that we are firm but fair and that our criticism is constructive.

• Explain and demonstrate the behaviour we wish to see.

• Encourage children to be responsible for their own behaviour.

• Reward individuals and groups of children for behaving well.

• Use relevant teaching materials to support our aims.

Good behaviour is recognised through rewards and privileges.

These may include:

• Awarding merits, stickers, smiley faces, stars, etc.

• Using a marble reward system to give additional time for children to pursue activities of their own choice.

• Using Golden Time

• Sending positive letters home/making telephone calls home

• Learning about examples of good behaviour in assembly

• Receiving school behaviour badges/stickers

On occasions children may forget our code for good behaviour and be inconsiderate towards others. Some classes use a traffic light system as a visual demonstration and a preventative measure for inappropriate behaviour of the class, group or individual.

In the majority of cases this system and positive reinforcement of good behaviour will prevent inappropriate behaviour; on other occasions a firm reminder will be sufficient. However, sometimes this may not be enough and, depending on the situation, it may be necessary to put further actions into place. Below are the steps we would put in place to deal with persistent poor behaviour.

After initial discussion with child about persistent unkind or poor behaviour, the below will be explained to them and then carried out.

Parents will be informed verbally if either Step 1 or Step 2 has been put in place throughout the day.

Step 1: Put incentives in place to encourage improved behaviour eg. award of special toy.

Step 2: Removal of child from the situation for thinking time within the classroom and to ensure safety of others (no child would be isolated).

Step 3: (If behaviour continues to escalate, cause concern or disruption) Formal communication with the parents. Arrange a meeting with the parents, Nursery teacher and Head of school to discuss ways of working together to develop good behaviour strategies

After discussion with child about behaviour:

Step 1: The class teacher needs to meet with the School Head  to discuss appropriate  actions to be taken.

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Examples of actions that may be discussed

• Removing part of their Golden Time.

• Time out either in a quiet area in the classroom or on the benches if in the playground. (Time out does not involve being sent to the school office or another class unless this has been discussed with the Head as Step 2)

• Set Behaviour Targets for within the class

• Communication with parents

When children are found to behave inappropriately, a time out  period of 5-10 min. (depending on the age) will be given to the student to reflect on their behavior and find a solution to rectify that behavior. If  however  the student cannot find an acceptable solution, the teacher will help by suggesting what is appropriate and acceptable. If unacceptable behavior continues, parents will be notified. Students will not be suspended from school, but instead playtime privileges will be revoked for their further reflection.

Step 2: Communication with the parents. Arrange a meeting with the parents, class teacher and School Head to discuss ways of working together to improve the child’s behaviour

Examples of actions that may be discussed in the parent meeting

• Missing part of a lesson in order to catch up on work missed through disruptive behaviour

• Setting targets for school and communicating outcomes with parents

• Setting targets for both school and home if the child’s behaviour at home is also poor

Step 3: Separating a child from the class by referring them to the Head Teacher.

Step 4: Meeting held with parents, Head teacher,  and class teacher.

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Examples of actions that may be discussed in the parent meeting

• Missing part of a lesson/playtime in order to catch up on work missed through disruptive behaviour

• Setting targets for school and communicating outcomes with parents

• Setting targets for both school and home if the child’s behaviour at home is also poor

• Recommending child counselling

Step 5: As a final resort, the pupil may be excluded from school. This course of action would only be considered after all possible avenues have been explored. Very careful arrangements would be made to monitor the situation to ensure that a child returning to school after exclusion is helped to behave appropriately.

Step 6: Permanent exclusion for a grave misdemeanour when a situation cannot be resolved.

We expect all our children to behave in a non-aggressive manner and to be polite and helpful to all members of our school community at all times. We hope that the children will take these values out into the wider world with them.

Working in partnership with parents to support pupil learning and behaviour is the key to Our Little Vaishnav’s approach. All staff should endeavour to develop positive, mutually respecting relationships with parents as a priority. Parents will be regularly consulted about              

any learning or behaviour issues their child might experience. Good parent – teacher relationships allow children to feel supported in school.

If the problem is severe or recurring then temporary exclusion (suspension) procedures and permanent exclusion may be implemented. The staged procedure would initially be an internal suspension then an external fixed period suspension and finally permanent exclusion. A very serious problem may result in the normal staged procedure being abandoned and a pupil being sent home immediately. The Headteacher is the only member of staff who can exclude a pupil.

Parents will be communicated at all stages of the exclusion process, including the level of behaviour, the actions and the steps that have been put in place to deal with disciplinary offences. If exclusion is required, this will be communicated to the parents by the School Head.

Please note that all discipline procedures are put into place to fulfill our school’s ultimate goal of “Keeping students safe”

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Know that unsafe and threatening behaviour is not accepted at the school.

Please note: Bad or Unacceptable Vaishnav  Behaviour  outside of the school hours is not the responsibility of the school. However if the behaviour is continuous and the image of the school is affected, the school will exclude the student of concern.

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While the school can mediate between parents and offer support , the onus is on parents  to take  full responsibility of their childrens’ behaviour outside of school.

Children should

• Be Respectful: Honest, kind, take turns and listen to others.

• Be Well-Mannered: Show consideration and politeness towards each other. Bad language is never respectful and will not be tolerated

• Be Responsible: For their actions including being safe around the building and looking after their own belongings.

• Be Caring and Sharing

• Be Helpful

• Be Hard-working

• Play fighting games or piggy-back games; no swinging, tripping, kicking or any other kind of close negative physical contact during play.

• Use physical or verbal abuse in any form. We have a zero-tolerance approach to abuse of any kind. It should never be passed off as ‘banter’, ‘just having a laugh’, ‘part of growing up’ or ‘boys being boys‘ as this can lead to a culture of unacceptable behaviours and an unsafe environment for children

At no point will physical or corporal punishment be used in dealing with inappropriate behaviour. Staff in both nursery and the main school must not give or threaten corporal punishment to a child and must not use or threaten any punishment which could adversely affect a child's well-being.

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Physical intervention may be used to avert immediate danger of personal injury. Any occasion whereby physical intervention is used, must be recorded and parents informed on the same day or as soon as reasonably practicable.

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A person will not be taken to have used corporal punishment (and therefore will not have committed an offence), where physical intervention was taken for the purposes of averting immediate danger of personal injury to any person (including the child) or to manage a child’s behaviour if absolutely necessary.